Meeker Construction

Paul Marrinan P.E.

During design and construction of the Meeker Creek Stream Restoration project updates were shared as new milestones were reached. Read through the bulleted list to see how this project unfolded and how this water quality and Salmon habitat project came to be.

Past Milestones/Status Updates

November 30, 2015 - Thank you to all the wonderful volunteers who braved rain, cold, and frozen ground to plant the nearly 1,000 shrubs and trees now in at the Meeker Creek Restoration site. Work continues this month with the City’s grant-funded Washington Conservation Crew to install the last of the plants for this year. Next spring will bring a new effort to plant even more. Initial efforts are to plant as much as possible, to support soil stabilization quickly. Over the coming years these shrubs and trees will be maintained, weeded, and thinned as needed. The establishment plan approved with the City’s funding agreement with Ecology for this project included a 3-year management plan for the riparian area.

The Contractor is currently finishing up final touches on the project, including the EcoStorm water quality filter unit located in the new cul-de-sac area of 18th Street SW.

October 1, 2015 - It is official! Salmon have been sighted in the new Meeker Creek channel section. With final touches underway, including hydroseeding and habitat wood placement in the floodplain and channel areas, the contractor will be moving on to paving of the new cul-de-sac built for maintenance of the water quality devices installed as part of this project. The sidewalk stretch along the east side of the project, on 14th Street SW, will also be replaced as part of this project. Pervious concrete will be installed to manage and filter stormwater runoff and help direct it to the creek.

For information on these volunteer opportunities, please contact Melissa Buckingham with the Pierce Conservation District.

August 17, 2015 - The connection has been made - Meeker Creek is now flowing in the newly-constructed meandering channel. The channel was designed with riffles, glides and pools to provide water quality improvements such as oxygenation to the water and create Salmon habitat for rearing, refuge, and spawning.

Final construction along the channel banks is being completed this week, including installation of the final root wad at the mouth of the new channel. The old ditched channel has also been cleared of vegetation in preparation for install of storm pipe and the water quality EcoStorm Plus structure. This device will filter stormwater flowing from pipes currently outlet into the ditch area before allowing it to flow into one of the new off-channel areas to-be constructed off of Clark's Creek.

Hydro seeding of the entire disturbed land area and planting of willow stakes will be done by the contractor. Later this fall, volunteer events will be held to invite the community to join with Pierce Conservation District and the City to install over 3,000 trees and shrubs alongside 6,000+ emergent plants that will be installed by Washington Conversation Corp crews.

August 4, 2015 - The cofferdams at Clark's Creek and at the Meeker Creek connection point have been installed. These are temporary enclosure areas where the contractor can pump out the water to get the area dry, and work in it. This will be to create the connection with Meeker into the new channel and then the new connection point into Clark's Creek.

The final parts of the flood plain excavation and low-flow channel creation are now underway. It is expected that connection of the new channel will be done in the end of August.

July 24, 2015 - If you have driven by the Meeker Restoration site lately, you'll know it is looking like a restoration project now! The floodplain has all been excavated, and the low-flow channel with shore armoring, woody material, and streambed cobble is over half-way installed.

And no, the large dirt piles are not permanent. To reduce material export as much as possible the dirt from these areas is planned to be located around the site in 5' tall mounds, as noted in the plans.

Reduce and reuse? Absolutely! All woody material that has been used thus far on this project has come from trees on-site that had to be removed, and from the stockpile of rootwads the City obtained as a donation from a local WSDOT project where they went unused.

Connection of Meeker into the new channel is expected to be made in mid-August. After the channel is complete, efforts will move to filling in the old ditched area, connecting those outfalls left in the ditch area, and installing a new water quality device.

April 23, 2015 -Council awarded a contract for construction of the Meeker Creek Channel Restoration project to the low-bidder: LKE Corporation during the April 21, 2015 Council Meeting. Construction is expected to begin in early May. Connection of the new creek channel will not be done until the July 15-August 31 in-water work window. Work leading up to channel connection (and after connection) will include: flood plain excavation, stormwater device installation, cul-de-sac construction (for access to stormwater device manholes ONLY), riparian planting, fence installation, and more.

If you would like to volunteer to help with planting of the riparian area this fall, after construction of the stream channel, please contact Melissa Buckingham with Pierce Conservation District. PCD is partnering with the City of this project to provide planting expertise as well as pass through funds received by PCD to support planting of this project.

April 20, 2015 - Bids for construction of the Meeker Creek Channel Restoration were opened on April 14, 2015. The contract will be presented to Council at the April 21, 2015 Council meeting for consideration and award. LKE Corporation was the apparent low bidder. LKE's past projects include stream restorations, in-stream habitat projects, watershed restoration, and riparian enhancement to name a few.

If awarded, notice to proceed is expected to be issued in early May, with ground work beginning shortly thereafter. Connection of the new channel will not be done until the in-water work window of July 15-August 31.

March 25, 2015 - The project plans were completed in February, including design considerations discussed at various public meetings and by Council. These items included: meeting water quality objectives, maximizing retainage of existing vegetation on-site, reusing any removed vegetation on-site, mirroring the existing ditch grade in the new channel, and maximizing flood benefits based on the design and cost analysis.

The project is currently out to bid. Sealed bids will be opened on April 14th at 2pm, with the low bidder presented to Council at the April 21, 2015 meeting. It is expected that the selected contractor will mobilize in early May, and begin construction shorter after. Construction of the new channel and flood plain area will be done first, with the actual connection of Meeker Creek into the new channel area, and connection with Clark's Creek being done July-August, during the permitted in-water work window.

December 22, 2014 - Thank you to those who attended the public meeting in October 2014 to review the year-long permitting phase which completed recently, and provided additional comments on the project.

The next step will include continuation of the design plans to meet the desired water quality goals of the project. The project will be presented to Council in early 2015 for review of the goals and approval prior to bidding.

September 29, 2014 - Permitting is now complete! No significant comments were received from the permitting agencies, and the design may continue as intended with design alternative No. 4, as indicated by attendees at the March 2013 public meeting as the preferred alternative. The project has received a DNS (Determination of Non-significance) for SEPA, Shoreline exemption, HPA, and granted by USACE to be covered under a national permit for restoration work.

A public meeting is scheduled for October 6, 2014 to review the completed permitting process, design direction, next steps, and anticipation remaining schedule, through construction. The public is encouraged to attend and provide feedback and comments on the project.

Monday, October 6, 2014 6-7:30 p.m.

City Hall, 5th floor, Council Chambers

February 5, 2014 - Permitting on this project is continuing. Initial comments have been received from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and notified parties. SEPA review is currently underway, with a Mitigation Monitoring Plan requested by the City to support the checklist submittal.

Once permitting is completed, agency comments and permit contingency requirements will be incorporated in the plans and work toward 60% plans will continue. A public meeting will be held at that time.

The City has been working to identify and acquire additional funding to meet the project need and bridge the funding gap between existing grant funding and stormwater funding for this project. Costs for excavation and disposal of existing soils - which would create the floodplain area in the lowered site - present a large portion of the construction costs. The City is working with various partner organizations to pursue additional funding

September 4, 2013 - The project has been designed up to the 30% phase, and is currently in the permitting phase. Once permitting is complete, comments from the permit review process will be incorporated into the 60% design. A public meeting will be held at that time.

Additional funding sources have been researched to support construction of this project to achieve the maximum benefit. A Resource Conservation Office (RCO) Salmon Recovery Funding Board (SRFB) grant was identified to bridge the funding gap between existing grant funding and stormwater funding for this project. Efforts of City Staff have secured a positive ranking position on the SRFB review process and will receive final decision by November 2013 on the potential $415,000 funding source.

March 19, 2013 - Thank you to those who were able to join us for the March 14, 2013 Public Meeting for the Meeker Creek Restoration project. For those unable to attend, we have posted the presentation and design alternatives to the project webpage. (Link to Presentation) (Link to Design Alternatives) We will use your feedback and comments to help define the design alternative for the restoration. The following topics were discussed during the meeting:

Design Alternative 4 was the most-preferred design by meeting attendees. Alternative 4 offers the least disruption to existing riparian habitat, includes water quality treatment for the existing storm connections west of 14th Street that currently enter Meeker, and offered off-channel Salmon habitat.

A public access feature is not included in the design(s) for this project.

To meet the budget restrictions, the City will seek additional grant opportunities, or will scale-back the extent of excavation to meet available funding or will do a combination of these options to create an achievable project budget.

A wetland, “scrub” will be considered for the proposed design for water quality treatment of flows prior to entering Clark's Creek. As was mentioned in the presentation, the final design will have to balance many factors such as hydraulic function, salmon habitat, sediment transport, flood conveyance and water quality, some of which are competing interests.

In-stream elements will include pools and riffles as much as possible for Salmon habitat - balanced with available budget and design considerations noted above.

The high-flow stream channel will support sediment drop-out, keeping sediment loads from entering Clark's Creek during high-flow events - the time when most sediment enters the creek. The volume of dirt excavated for this project would be equivalent to (at the least) 7 feet of dirt pilled on a football field. The sediment estimated to drop out in the restored stream flood plain over 20 years would be 1 foot deep on a football field. Conversely, the low flow channel will be design to hydraulically mimic the existing channel’s characteristics to allow sediment to pass through the project site during low flow, low sediment conditions and prevent sediment deposition in the new channel.

We expect that projects from the sediment reduction study to be published by the Puyallup Tribe shortly will be implemented over the next 20 years such that sediment loads will be reduced in Meeker and Clark's Creeks.

The next step is to develop one of the design alternatives and begin the permitting process. Another public meeting will be held once the design is 60% complete. Please look for postcards and emails to announce the next meeting.

February 27, 2013 - The conceptual design phase is underway for the stream restoration. Multiple possible designs and layouts for the stream meander are being considered and drafted up for public input. Please join us to look over the conceptual designs. We will present four possible designs, discuss decision factors, and review related cost estimates:

March 14, 2013 6:30-7:30 p.m.

Puyallup City Hall, 5th Floor Council Chambers

333 S Meridian

January 15, 2013 - After Council approval and award of the design contract at the December 4, 2012 Council Meeting, investigations have begun at the project site. Soil analysis began this week, with multiple test pits dug throughout the project area so that the specific type of soils can be determined. Wetland delineation is also being completed, which will feed into the first concept layouts for consideration.

The next public meeting is anticipated for March 2013, where the first concept layouts will be presented for public input and discussion.

November 13, 2012 - The contract to design the Meeker Creek Restoration project is scheduled to be presented to Council for consideration at the December 4, 2012 council meeting.

October 1, 2012 - Prior to design or continuation of this project, a Study Session will be held to further discuss the Meeker Creek Restoration project. Please join us for this study session:

September 20, 2012 - Design of this project will begin after/if City Council makes the determination to approve a consultant contract for the design phase. A Study Session is scheduled (November 20, 2012) for Council to learn about the project, background information, project goals and other deciding factors that will allow them to make an informed decision on the status of this project.

September 18, 2012 - As follow-up to the Public Meeting, City Council announced during the council meeting that they are requesting additional information on the project at the November 20, 2012 Study Session prior to making a decision on award of the design contract.

September 5, 2012 - A public meeting was held on September 5, 2012 to offer an overview of the project benefits and goals, project funding, and proposed project schedule. Comments and concerns were discussed during the meeting. A summary of questions asked and responses given will be posted shortly.

Additional negotiations are currently underway with the selected design consultant. Once the grant agreement is completed, a contract will be drafted for the design of this project. It is planned to host multiple public meetings to gather input from the community on this project once the design begins.

August 14, 2012 - City Council did not approve and award the design contract for this project. They did request staff to hold a public meeting on the project.

July 17, 2012 - City Council approved and accepted the WA Department of Ecology grant for the Meeker Creek Stream and Riparian Restoration project in the amount of $215,891.